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"WILL!" CONRAD TURNER SHOUTS TO his younger sister as he chases her down the hall, putting his hands on her shoulders and pulling her back when he reaches her. "Caught ya." Willow laughs at his childish remark, and rolls her eyes. Trailing behind Conrad were his two best friends, Oliver Wood and Cameron Barrett. Oliver was a fifth year, and a Gryffindor. Cameron was in the same year and house as Conrad, but all three of them remained the closest of friends, despite Oliver being younger and in a different house. On top of that, him and Conrad were captains of rivaling Quidditch teams, and often went head to head in matches.
"Con, Cam, Ollie, you're all looking lovely today." Willow says, nodding to each boy. Then, she quickly adds, "Well, not you Conrad, you look as dumb as ever." Cameron and Oliver laugh, and Conrad gives Willow a noogie, his knuckles digging into her skull.
"I would also appreciate it if you stopped chasing me like that. You're really embarrassing and I don't want to be seen with you." Willow says jokingly, poking Conrad in the arm multiple times. In response he simply ruffles her hair. Willow shoves into him, then cautiously smooths her hair.
Willow turns her head to Oliver, who was the shortest and kindest of the boys, not that the others weren't kind by any means. It's just Oliver was never rough or ever jokingly teased her. "Heard you got Potter on your team this year."
"You bet, the game against you guys next week will be a thriller." Oliver says, patting Willow on the shoulder, making her smile. She used to have a giant crush on the boy, but it dissipated in her second year when he got his first girlfriend. She never saw him in that way since.
"Speaking of, I'm meeting the team in fifteen on the field, so I gotta run. Catch you guys later." Oliver says, and Conrad jokingly shoves his head as if to push him out of the group. "Get outta here, then!"
"Bye Ollie!" Cameron calls out as Oliver runs down the hall to the left, and the remaining three keeping walking straight ahead. Cameron throws his arm over Willow's shoulder, and smirks down at her.
"A little birdie told me Weasley's been giving you trouble in Potions." He says, and Willow feels her muscles freeze. She slowly looks at her brother, who raises is eyebrows at the remark. A barely audible 'oh shit' can be heard from Cameron, who obviously had no idea Conrad didn't know.
"Weasley? Which Weasley? Actually, doesn't matter. I can handle all of them." Conrad's voice was stern, Willow only ever heard that voice when she was tattling on someone so that he would threaten them or give them a quick punch in the gut so they would leave her or her friends alone.
"Conrad, it's fine. I can take Fred all on my own-" Willow stops mid sentence, knowing she just made the situation ten times worse.
"Fred, huh? He's the one? Do I need to...have a talk with him?" Conrad crosses his arms, raising a singular eyebrow at her. Willow didn't want Conrad to do have anything to do with Fred, and didn't feel like she needed his protection.
"Jeez, and you wonder why we thought you were a Gryffindor." Willow mutters, which causes Conrad to relax a bit. "Seriously, Conrad. Fred isn't some big bad bully I need saving from. He probably has the attention span of a table and will forget I exist in a few hours. Until then I can handle a few jokes and what-not." Willow says, patting Conrad on the back. Conrad lets out a breath, and begins walking again, which draws Willow's attention to the fact that they had been stopped the whole time in the middle of the hall.
"Whatever you say, Will. But I'm still always here to back you up, you know." Conrad says finally.
"Me too." Cameron adds, and Willow laughs. "I always wanted body guards. Thanks guys." Willow pats Cameron on the back too, then narrows her eyes at him.
"Wait, what little birdie told you about Potions class?"
"Willmur."
Willow grits her teeth, shaking her head while trying to hold in a smile. "That little twit, bless his pure heart for being too nice to lie. Damn him and his Hufflepuff ways."
The three eventually come to a halt where the hall peels off in two different directions. The boys would go to their Ravenclaw tower, and Willow would join her fellow Slytherins in going down the the dungeons where their common room was. Willow turns to face the two boys, and sighs dramatically. She wishes she could go back with them, she longed to go up into the Ravenclaw tower, even for an hour or two. But, she was sure that the other inhabitants of the house wouldn't be too pleased with her presence.
"Well, my good men, I bid yee farewell." She says, then adds a curtsy in for affect. The two laugh and join in, bowing in return towards her.
"Good day, miss. It's been a pleasure." Cameron says in a fake deep voice, and all three laugh together like a bunch of little kids. "By the way, I'm pretty sure it's 'thee,' not 'yee.'" Cameron adds when the laughing dies down. Willow mouths 'whatever' back to him.
"See ya, loser." Conrad says, and Willow waves before turning and walking down the hall, a warm feeling sitting deep inside of her stomach.
✵
"Did you see the way the way they just hang on her and joke with her like it's nothing?!" Fred had said to his brother that same night, pacing in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room after their Quidditch meet, on another one of his 'Willow Tangents' as Lee had referred to them one time. George was laying across the couch behind him, tossing around candy wrappers, and occasionally aiming them at Fred's head.
"Yes, Fred, you've pointed that out several times now." George sighs, flicking one of the wrappers right at his brother's ear. It hits the target. "Bullseye."
"George, you don't get it. Everyone knows she used to fancy Oliver. She probably still does. How come they get to talk to her so easily? I say one word to her and she acts like I've just insulted her cat."
"Fred, you're really hung up on this girl whom you barely know. She doesn't fancy you mate. Give it a rest already." George says, sitting up on the couch and sticking his foot out as Fred turns on his heel to pace towards him. Fred absentmindedly trips, and catches himself on the armchair a few feet away. "You better not be falling in love or anything."
"What? No way, you're insane." Fred says, straightening his sweater and leaning back in the chair.
"Just making sure. Because you're just going to end with a broken heart. Especially with the way you're trying to get a date from her." George shrugs, and stretches as he stands up. "I'm heading to bed, you following?"
"In a bit. I'm going to hang around here a bit longer." Fred says to his twin, not looking up at him, but instead staring into the crackling fire, obviously lost in some other world. George shrugs again and heads up the stairs. Fred yawns, but doesn't feel the need to sleep. Too many thoughts racing through his head to be tired.
He tried to not get his hopes up. Fred knew his brother was right and he shouldn't be falling for this girl he barely knew. But at the same time, he couldn't help himself. He didn't know what made him open his eyes, whether it was the stupid dare, or his decision to move next to her that morning, but he truly was starting to fall for Willow Grace Turner. Everything about her was simply perfect to him, even though all she ever had been was disgusted by him.
All he wanted was for her to see him the way he saw her.
